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Inauguration Day: January 2017

After Robert Lowell

A braggart, whom we thought absurd,
a master of the wounding word,
combining vanity with hate
is now Commander of the State.

Democracy’s a savaged plant.
The credulous, the ignorant,
who trust in God, forgive his sins.
America’s worst angel wins.

The plant is bleeding from its stump
as the Republic summons Trump.
Doyen of feral billionaires,
he lifts the hand that grabs, and swears.

Cold tears are leaking from the sky.
How sure success is when you lie!

Audio file

Listen to this poem — read by the author